Creative Ways to Use Your Halloween Candy

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE Halloween candy. The Almond Joys are my all time favorites, but I really, and I mean really, do not need to eat 25 Almond Joy bars back to back. Over the years I've found a number of creative ways to use our Halloween Candy. Here are my favorites:

1. Pinatas

My oldest son's birthday is one week after Halloween. He always requests a pinata at his party and I always make sure to set aside enough Halloween candy to fill his pinata. Not only does it save me money, but my kids love getting a whole bunch of "new" candy from the pinata. Don't have a birthday coming up soon? Kids love pinatas. Why not incorporate one into your Thanksgiving or Christmas Eve tradition?

2. Gingerbread Houses

We LOVE making gingerbread houses for the holidays. We make one for Halloween, Christmas, and Valentine's Day. I always pick up gingerbread houses in the holiday clearance bins and then store them with my holiday decorations. We're not going to eat them, so it doesn't matter if they're old. My Michaels and Target always carry Halloween gingerbread houses, but there is never enough candy in the kits. I save candy from parades (and let me tell you, we go to a lot of parades) for the Halloween House, but I sort through the Halloween candy for the Christmas and Valentine's Day gingerbread houses. We've been known to place Nerds on the rooftops and we've found that Starbursts make beautiful floors or walls. You'll look at your Halloween candy in a whole new light, when you think about how it will transform your gingerbread houses.

3. Science Experiments

I'm a former 5th grade teacher turned homeschooler. My kids love learning and I love teaching--it's the perfect combination. We always set aside certain pieces of Halloween candy so that we can conduct a few fun experiments. Do you know what part of an M&M floats? Have you ever seen light come from a Lifesaver? Candyexperiments.com has a lot of fun experiments that your kids will love.

4. Cooking

I love to try new recipes. And I love candy. So when I came across these recipes I was a happy camper. Check out Recipe Goldmine to discover hundreds of recipes that feature candy as the main ingredient. What's not to love about Almond Joy Fudge or Frosted Milky Way Brownies? Yum!

Do you have a creative way that you use your leftover Halloween candy? We'd love to hear about it.